Moonlight Kisses

birthday girl

But the hours that followed proved otherwise. I mean, Jo wasn't as happy as she had been before that morning, but she wasn't broken either. She let me hold her as close as possible. While she laid on top of me, I fucking prayed to whatever higher power out there that my arms around her did something. That they'd healed her somehow. Or prevented the worst from getting to her.

As hard as the days were after that, I think I was heard.

After she told Brooke about everything, something she might have heard in that session fueled a determined fire in her. Jo took a vow to never think back on what happened and whenever she did, she went right to that journal of hers. Such a simple process it sounds like, but no measly words can describe how hard it was on her. There were hours she cried, times I had to sit beside her as she hunched over the toilet in agony, nights she couldn't sleep as the war in her mind kept her wide awake. I tried my absolute best to help her, but we both knew that healing after something traumatic such as that she had to do on her own. I was just her support system. I couldn't be in her mind no matter how bad I wanted to be. Science wasn't advanced enough for me to just pry into the contents of her thoughts and emotions and fix them around so that she'd be the happiest possible version of herself.

As unfortunate as it was, healing was a weight only her shoulders could carry. On the other hand, that also meant that when she finally found the mentally healthy state she'd been striving for, she'd have her immense resilience to thank.

By her next session, Jo was thrilled to tell Brooke that she'd gone back to her house for the first time. She'd managed to take her mind off things with her family's company. She wasn't ready to go back permanently just yet, but we were all happy for her nonetheless. She was making progress, that's what truly mattered.

Plus I didn't mind keeping her here for a little while longer. Neither of us really mentioned it, but we were technically living together. It only made me realize that I needed her around all the time.

Nights wouldn't be the same without her in my bed.

I await her with an expectant gleam in my gaze to come out with whatever outfit she has planned. For her sake, I hope she wears whatever she feels like wearing. She never has to feel ashamed in anything she wears, she looks beautiful in anything. She could honestly walk out in a trash bag and she'd manage to look fucking beautiful.

Turning my attention to the dog, I notice him sitting up straight waiting for her to make her appearance. Hell she's even got a dog obsessed with her. I reach over to him slowly to throw off his deep concentration. Not even a second goes before he cocks his big head to look at my hand. I pause, he growls. The closer I inch toward him, the louder he growls. It calls to Jo's attention like a goddamn siren. She pops her head out of the closet and spots me antagonizing him.

What a little snitch. I curl my hand back to my side and snap my gaze to meet hers. "Leave him be," she frowns, but I can't help but let my eyes linger over her outfit. A simple white halter top that dips low both in the front and the back. Paired with light blue jeans that are fitted on her waist and thighs and loosen up at her knees. She's still with that lopsided bun, bringing a humored smile to my lips, but the rest of her renders me speechless.

One leg crosses behind the other when she steps out to fully show off her outfit. She looks down at the neckline warily, "Is it too much?" she asks timidly.

Again, she already knows what I'm going to say. However, she needs to hear that reassurance, which I'm more than happy to give. "It looks perfect, you look perfect." I could think of a million other things to say, all genuine compliments, but some of them are rather suggestive and I'm not sure her light coat of foundation would be able to conceal the fiercely colored blush that'd coat her cheeks.